The Fallen

"Something sinister is going on in Baronville. The rust belt town has seen four bizarre murders in the space of two weeks. Cryptic clues left at the scenes-- obscure bible verses, odd symbols --have the police stumped. Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are in Baronville visiting Alex's sister and her family. It's a bleak place: a former mill and mining town with a crumbling economy and rampant opioid addiction. Decker has only been there a few hours when he stumbles on a horrific double murder scene. Then the next killing hits sickeningly close to home. And with the lives of people he cares about suddenly hanging in the balance, Decker begins to realize that the recent string of deaths may be only one small piece of a much larger scheme--with consequences that will reach far beyond Baronville"--

Comment

Slower to develop than his usual tale. The Memory Man had to do it all pretty much on his own. A rather complex story of rust belt woes, sadly it is very factual in the turn to opiates in the rust belt today. Addiction is always the escape never the cure.

So predictable it felt contrived and drawn out but it was still a good story.

Amos Decker joins his FBI parnter Alex Jamison on a vacation visit to her sister's family in their new location of Baronville PA.

Observing strange flickering of lights leads to a joint investigation of six murders with the local police and the DEA. The more they dig the more danger and death they uncover. Further concussions have Decker's brain misfiring giving a potential problem for future novels.
Robber Barons owning the town of Baronville and hidden treasure were a bit of a stretch.

The book held my attention throughout. However, the premise is farfetched which made it a bit hard to enjoy. The ending in particular was way beyond the believable. I know this is fiction and it did keep me guessing who were the bad guys and who were the good. But I've read better books from the author.

David Baldacci is at his best when he writes about Amos Decker. Amos and his partner Alex Jamison are back in the "Fallen." This book does not disappoint. Decker an Jamison are vacationing in Baronville at Jamison's sister's place when things start going wrong. Murder after murder take place and the local police and even DEA do not seem to make any headway. Decker with his usual logical thinking makes several discoveries which only seem to put him at risk. The difference in this book is that Decker does not make use of his prodigious memory instead he as portrayed as a sensitive, caring man. Regardless, the murders are solved with some surprising endings and a satisfactory conclusion. I enjoyed the book.